Combined loud-speaker and light



Sept. 10, 1929. c. A. VOLF, JR

COIBINED LOUD SPEAKER AND LIGHT 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed llay 26, 1927 gwoentw M WA sept- 1929- c. A. VOLF, JR 1,727,419

COIBINED LOUD SPEAKER AND LIGHT Filed May 26, 192 s Sheets-Sheet 2 v Sept. 10, 1929. c. A. VOLF, JR 1,727,419

COMBINED LOUD SPEAKER AND LIGHT Filed May 26, 1.927 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 WWI f1 M Qttozweq Patented Sept. 10, 1929.

UNITED STATES CHRISTIAN A. VOLF, 33., OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

COMBINED LOUD-SPEAKER AND LIGHT.

Application filed May 26, 1927. Serial No. 194,332.

This invention is a fixture comprising two radio loud speakers and a light, assembled into a unit which may be suspended over a doorway or from the ceiling.

One of the loud speakers is of the horn type, which responds to and amplifies deeper tones, while the other is of the cone type, which responds to and amplifies the higher pitched tones, the cooperative and simultaneous use of the two giving a true sound reproduction over a wide range. The two loud speakers are preferably connected in series.

The two loud speakers could be used alone, but preferably a plurality of lights is associated with the two loud speakers, so that the one fixture serves as a sound reproducer, and as a chandelier or the like.

The sound. waves from the two loud speakers are directed downwardly and outwardly,

and the light rays similarly directed. The

fixture is designed for the ready amplification and free escape of the sound waves from both loud speakers, so as to give clarity and volume to the reproduced tones. I

The fixture of this invention conceals the horn speaker. The sound waves are amplified to give a large volume, yet pitch and quality are maintained. The sound waves aredirected downwardly and outwardly and evenly distributed and so can be heard equally well in all directions. Furthermore, there is no echo effect or hollow tone effect, as is the case with some types of loud speakers.

The fixture is preferably suspended vertically. The cone speaker is directly below and in line with the horn speaker, but sufficiently spaced from it so that the spreading of the sound waves from the horn speaker is not interfered with. The horn speaker is entirely concealed. The entire assembly makes an attractive and novel fixture, adapted for household or store use, and for advertising purposes.

Further details of construction will be pointed out by reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrating preferred and modified forms of the invention. It should be understood'that the invention is not to be limitedto the exact construction shown, and that it may be carried out in other ways.

Referring now to these drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side view partly in section of my improved fixture;

Fig. 2 is a top View;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. t is a sectional view showing a detail of the mounting of the cone;

gig. 5 is a sectional View of a modification; an

Fig. 6 is a sectional View of another modification.

Referring now to these drawings in which similar reference characters represent similar parts, 2 indicates an annular support, adapted to be secured to the ceiling or other appropriate place, the support 2 in turn carrying the support 4 and below that the downwardly tapered support 6. A resonance member or loud speaker 8 of the horn type is secured to member 6 by means of a threaded rod 10, which engages with a washer 12 and a nut or plug member 1 1. Secured to the lower end of the horn member 8 and preferably integral therewith is a downwardly and outwardly flared bell 16. The electrical details of the loud speaker, such as the diaphragm and magnets form no part of this invention and are located in the casing 18; in the top of the casing is an externally corru ated bushing 20, over which is engaged a ru ber sleeve 22. Telescoping with the sleeve 22 is a zinc tube 24. The sound waves from the diaphragm in casing 18 pass up the tube 24 and are deflected laterally by the rounded portion 26 of member 14 and are then reversed and directed downwardly and outwardly, out of the bell mouth 16;.the path of the sound waves is indicated by the arrows.

Positioned below and in line with the bell member 16, but spaced therefrom, is a bell- 9 like canopy 28, which is somewhat larger than hell 16, and is expanded downwardly and outwardly as shown in Fig. 1. The canopy 28 is supported by hollow tubes 30, the upper ends of which are suitably anchored in memher/i, while the lower ends are threaded for receiving the nuts 32, on the inside of the canopy 28. The supporting tubes 30 pass through the bell member 16 1S indicated.

Within the canopy 28 and anchored thereto in any desired manner, is an annular supporting bracket 34, for supporting the electrical elements, including armature an d magnets, of a sound reproducer, indicated generally by 36. The details of these electrical members form no part of the present invention and therefore are not illustrated in detail. 38 indicates a light rod, which is vibrated by the electrical unit 36, as is known in the art of cone loud speakers.

The two speaker units 18 and 36 are connected in series. 40 indicates the wires leading to the cone speaker and 42 the wires leading to the horn speaker. These wires are led through one of thehollow supporting tubes 30. The supporting tubes 30 are preferably lined with rubber for insulating purposes.

The rod 38 is connected to the apex of a cone 44, the rod passing through a bushing 46 and being secured in the bushing by a set screw 48.

The outer edge or ,rim of the canopy 28 is substantially vertical as shown at 50, see Fig. 4. An annular rim member 52 having an inwardly turned flange 54; is hinged at 56 to the canopy 28, the other side of the rim being held by a latch 58. The upper outer edge of the cone 44: is retained in posit-ion by the flange 54. This edge also bears against a cushioning member 60, which is a fairly heavy piece of rubber tubing extending around ust inside the rim- 50.

Qne or more incandescent lights 62 are as sociated with the fixture, in several arrangel ments. As shown in Fig. 1 the lights are supported by brackets 64: which extend downwardly and outwardly from the support 4.

The described fixture is designed to be sus pended from the ceiling or positioned over a doorway, for example. Thesound waves from the horn loud speaker are directed downwardly and outwardly from the bell 16 and over the canopy 28. The sound waves from the cone are also directed downwardly and outwardly, most of them passing up the cone as indicated at the arrows and then leaving passing downwardly and outwardly, in the same general direction as the sound waves leaving the bell 16. The result of this is that the sound waves from the two speakers are blended and are directed equally in all directions and to all parts of a room. There is no hollow tone or echo effect and the sound waves are amplified to a large volume yet with proper maintenance of quality and pitch.

One of the loud speakers, such as the horn speaker, is designed to respond to and amplify tones of higher pitch, while the other loud speaker, such as the cone, is designed to respond to and amplify tones of lower pitch, the result of the joint use of the two being that an instrument is produced which isproperly responsive to sound waves having frequencies varying over a wide range. This is a distinct advantage over that type of instrument which, while properly responsive to tones of low pitch, is not properly responsive to tones of high pitch, and vice versa.

Refering now to Fig. 5,. there is illustrated a modification where lights 66 are 'mounted inside the canopy 28. These lights are supported on suitable brackets 68. Ourrent is led to these lights through ordinary insulated wires 70, which may pass through one of the supporting tubes 30. This modification has the cone and associated parts and the loud speaker 18 and associated parts as described in connection with Figs. 1 and 4;.

The heat from the lights will keep the electrical elements at a substantially constant temperature and will also keep them at a somewhat elevated temperature, all of. which will promote the electrical erhciency of these parts.

Referring now to the modification shown in Fig. 6, in place of the cone there is a transparent or translucent bowl 72, of glass or the like, which is held in place by the rim 52. Lights 66 are positioned in the canopy 28 as before.

While I have illustrated my invention in some detail, it should be understood that the invention is, not limited to the exact details shown, but may be carried out in other ways, as expressed within the scope of the .claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A sound amplifying fixture adapted to be suspended from the ceiling or over a doorextending vertically, both speakers serving to directsoundwaves downwardly and outwardly, the entire fixture being symmetrical about its vertical axis.

2. A sound'amplifying fixture adapted to be suspended from the ceiling or over a doorway, comprising in combination a horn loud speaker having a closed back wall and a cone loud speaker, mounted one above the other and spaced apart, the mouth of the horn facing downwardly and the axis of the cone extending vertically, and connected in series, both speakers serving to direct sound waves downwardly and outwardly in all directions, the entire fixture being symmetrical about its vertical axis.-

3. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a support at the upper end thereof adapted to be attached to the ceiling or over a doorway, a horn loud speaker having a closed back wall, a cone loud speaker, in line with one another and spaced apart, the mouth of the horn facing downwardly and the axis of the cone extending vertically, both arranged to direct sound waves downwardly and outwardly in all directions, the entire fixture being symmetrical about its central vertical axis and separate sound reproducing units, connected in series, for delivering sound waves to the two speakers, respectively.

4. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a support at the upper end thereof adapted to be attached to the ceiling or over adoorway, a horn loud speaker and a cone loud speaker, in line with one another and spaced apart, both arranged to direct sound waves downwardly and outwardly in all directions, and incandescent lights mounted just above the cone, so that the lighttherefrom shines downwardly through the cone, the entire fixture being symmetrical about its central vertical axis.

5. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a horn loud speaker arranged to direct sound waves therefrom downwardly and outward ly, a bell-like canopy supported below and in line with the horn loud speaker, and a cone loud speaker supported by and positioned below the canopy, arranged to direct sound waves therefrom downwardly and outwardly, the fixture being symmetrical about its central vertical axis.

6. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a sound reproducing unit, a substantially cylindrical sound pipe leading therefrom, a resonance chamber placed over the open end of said pipe, said chamber having a substantially flat back wall and outwardly flaring side walls extending from the outer edge of said back wall.

7. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a sound reproducing unit, asubstantially cylindrical sound pipe leading therefrom, a connector of rubber or the like for connecting the cylindrical pipe to the sound repro ducing unit, a resonance chamber placed over the open end of said pipe, said chamber having a substantially fiat back wall and outwardly flaring side walls extending from the outer edge of said back wall.

8,.A sound amplifying fixture comprising a sound reproducing unit, a substantially cy lindrical sound pipe leading therefrom, a bell-like resonance chamber placed over the sound pipe, the resonance chamber having a substantially flat back wall against which the sound waves from the pipe are directed, a plug carried by the fiat back wall directly in line with the center of the pipe, the resonance member having downwardly and out wardly flaring walls.

9. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a sound reproducing unit, a substantially cylindrical pipe for leading sound waves from the sound reproducing unit, a resonance member placed over the mouth of the pipe, the resonance member having a substantially flat back wall against which the sound waves from the pipe are directed and also having a centrally located plug, smaller in diameter than said pipe and directly in line therewith, the resonance member also having flaring side walls for directing sound waves outwardly.

10. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a horn loud speaker and a cone loud speaker, means for mounting one of the speakers directly below and spaced from the other, two separate sound reproducing means mounted between the horn and cone for actuating them, respectively, the horn being substantially bell-shaped and serving to reverse the direction of the sound waves coming into it from the sound reproducing means, and to throw the waves in the same direction as the waves coming from the cone.

11. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a downwardly and outwardly flared canopy,

a cone speaker supported by the lower part of the canopy, with its axis vertical, sound reproducing. means positioned in the upper part of the canopy, a downwardly and outwardly flared horn, smaller than the canopy and positioned above and spaced from the canopy, means for leading sound waves from the sound reproducing means into the horn, the horn reversing the sound waves and dirooting them downwardly and outwardly, over and around the outer part of the canopy.

12. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a horn loud speaker having a back wall, and a cone loud speaker, means for mounting the cone speaker directly below and in line with the horn speaker and spaced therefrom, two separate sound reproducing means, connected in series, mounted between the horn and cone, a vertically extending pipe for leading sound waves from one of the sound reproducers upwardly into the horn, the horn serving to reverse the direction of the sound waves coming from the pipe and to direct them downwardly and outwardly over the outer edge of the cone.

13. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a downwardly and outwardly flared canopy, a cone speaker supported by the lower part of the canopy, with its axis vertical, separate sound reproducing means, connected in series, positioned in the upper part of the canopy, a vertically extending pipe leading upwardly from one of the sound reproducers, a downwardly and outwardly flared horn, having a back walllpositioned over said pipe and above and space from the canopy, the horn reversing the sound waves and directing them downwardly and outwardly, over and around the outer part of the canopy.

14. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a horn loud speaker and a cone loud speaker, the horn being symmetrically position above the cone, the cone having its axis vertical, separate sound reproducing units for actuating the two speakers, respectively, the horn speaker having a bell member placed to re ceive the sound waves coming from one sound reproducing unit and reverse their direction and project themv in the same general direction as the sound waves coming from the cone speaker.

15. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a horn loud speaker and a cone loud speaker, the horn being symmetrically positioned above the cone, the cone having its axis vertical, separate sound reproducing units for actuating the two speakers, respectively, a pipe for leading sound waves upwardly from one of the sound reproducing units, the horn speaker having a substantially fiat top wall and being placed over the upper end of said pipe, for reversing the direction of the sound waves and throwing them downwardly and outwardly to join with the sound waves from the cone.

16. A sound amplifying fixture comprising i a horn loud speaker and a cone loud speaker, the horn being symmetrically positioned above the cone, the cone having its axis vertical, separate sound reproducing units for actuating the two speakers, respectively, a pipe for leading sound waves upwardly from one of the sound reproducing units, the horn speaker having a substantially flat top wall and a central plug, the horn speaker being placed over the upper, open end of said ipe, with the plug in line with but spaced rom the open end of the pipe, for reversing the direction of the sound waves and throwing them downwardly and outwardly to join with the sound waves from the cone.

17. A sound amplifying fixture comprising a downwardly and outwardly flared canopy, a cone speaker supported by the canopy, be-

low it, with its axis vertical, two sound reproducing means supported at the upper part of the canopy, a vertically extending pipe leading upwardly from one of the sound reproducers, a downwardly and outwardly flared horn, having a back wall, positioned over the 11 per, open end of the pipe, and supporting e ements attached to the canopy and extending through the horn, for supporting the canopy, the horn serving to receive the upwardly traveling sound waves and to direct them downwardly and outwardly, over and around the outer part of the canopy.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHRISTIAN A. VOLF, JR. 

